Virginia gained a massive victory for its NCAA Tournament hopes, winning 74-72 Sunday at No. 8 Louisville.
It was only the Cardinals’ second home loss to a non-AP Top 25 team in the last decade. The Cavaliers (19-8, 11-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) began the day on ESPN writer Charlie Creme’s “bracketology” as one of the “last four in” the NCAA field of 68.
Romi Levy made a clutch 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining and grabbed a missed 3 by Louisville’s Imari Berry at the buzzer.
Berry made 1 of 2 free throws with 31.4 seconds left to put Louisville (24-5, 14-2) up 72-71. UVA ran time off before Levy (15 points) spotted up for a 3 on the right side for her second clutch jumper in the final 2:08 to give the Cavaliers their fourth win in five games.
Reyna Scott missed a layup with 4 seconds left, but Louisville retained possession. Berry had a good look from the right corner as time expired but was short.
Kymora Johnson had 16 points, Levy had 15, Paris Clark had 14 points and Tabitha Amanze had 11 rebounds and nine points for UVA.
Virginia Tech 62, Georgia Tech 51: The Hokies (21-8, 11-6 ACC) outscored the Yellow Jackets 31-19 in the second half at Cassell Coliseum.
Carleigh Wenzel scored 15 points, including the 1,000th of her Virginia Tech career. Samyha Suffren led the Hokies with 16, hitting all of eight or free throws, and Carys Baker had 10 points and eight rebounds. Talayah Walker led the Yellow Jackets (12-16, 7-9) with 17 points.
Drexel 63, William & Mary 61: The Tribe (13-12, 6-8 Coastal Athletic Association) led most of the way before 1,012 at Kaplan Arena, including by eight entering the fourth quarter, but fell to the Dragons (17-8, 10-4). Drexel’s Deja Evans broke a tie with a layup with 7 seconds left,
Cassidy Geddes led W&M with 22 points, shooting 5 of 12 from 3-point range and sinking three free throws with 11 seconds to force a tie. Her 3-point try to win missed just before the final buzzer. Marley Long had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Monmouth 64, Hampton 57: The Hawks (18-8, 11-4 CAA) outscored the Pirates 22-5 in the second quarter at the HU Convocation Center and held on. Monmouth’s GiGi Gamble scored 21 points and Divine Dibula had 20.
For HU (9-17, 3-11), Aisha Dabo scored 19 points, while Le’Asia Foreman had 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Hampton reduced deficits of 45-24 and 60-47 to 61-57 with 30 seconds left but couldn’t score again.
Apprentice 99, Millennia Atlantic 41: The top-seeded Builders won the New South Athletic Conference Tournament championship on their home floor in dominant fashion, leading 22-4 after one quarter and 49-11 at the half against the visitors from Doral, Florida. They hit 10 of 20 3-point tries.
NeOndra Kelly had 24 points, freshman Siara Lundy scored a season-high 20, tournament MVP Dajanelle Linton-Robinson had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Joy Wright had 14 points and nine rebounds. Wright and Kelly were all-tourney choices.
Apprentice is expected to learn its pairing Monday for a likely spot in the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association nationals March 3 in Buffalo, New York.
Richmond 92, La Salle 58: Freshman Aneisha Scott erupted for a season-high 20 points and Maggie Doogan added 16 on her Senior Day as the Spiders (23-6, 13-3 Atlantic 10) snapped a two-game skid by routing the Explorers (15-12, 8-8).
Cleveland Community College 73, Bryant & Stratton 67: The Bobcats (23-3, 17-2 conference), in North Carolina, suffered a rare defeat despite Sian Lewin’s 26 points and Sania Johnson’s 10. BSC is ranked 16th in National Junior College Athletic Association Division II.
No. 1 Connecticut 81, Providence 38: Azzi Fudd had 13 points and four steals in her final regular-season game at Gampel Pavilion as UConn (29-0, 18-0 Big East) tied a program record by forcing 39 turnovers. The Huskies’ winning streak went to 45 games. Princess Moody led Providence (14-15, 7-11) with 11 points.
No. 3 South Carolina 85, No. 17 Mississippi 48: Joyce Edwards scored 21 points, Madina Okot had 17 and the host Gamecocks (27-2, 13-1) clinched the Southeastern Conference Tournament’s No. 1 seed. The victory was their 21st straight over the Rebels (21-8, 8-6).
No. 4 Texas 92, Mississippi State 42: Madison Booker scored 23 points, Jordan Lee added 17 and Texas (26-3, 11-3 SEC) extended its nation-leading home winning streak to 41 games. Favour Nwaedozi scored nine points to lead MSU (18-10, 5-9), which committed a season-high 28 turnovers.
No. 5 Vanderbilt 81, No. 16 Kentucky 79: Mikayla Blakes scored 35 points and Justine Pissott came up with a big defensive play to virtually clinch a home win for the Commodores (25-3, 11-3 SEC) against the Wildcats (20-8, 7-7).
Trailing by one, Kentucky’s Clara Strack made a move to the basket from the wing, but Pissott deflected the ball out of Strack’s hand. Blakes gained possession and then was fouled with less than a second left. Strack scored 17 points to lead Kentucky.
No. 13 Iowa 62, No. 6 Michigan 44: Ava Heiden had 24 points and 10 rebounds, Hannah Stuelke had 11 points and 12 rebounds, and the host Hawkeyes (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten) held the Wolverines (22-5, 13-3) to their lowest point total of the season.
No. 7 LSU 108, Missouri 55: MiLaysia Fulwiley had 22 points, 11 rebounds and two steals for LSU (24-4, 10-4 SEC), which led throughout the final three periods and by as many as 57 points. LSU outshot Missouri 47% to 24% and held a 72-25 rebounding edge on the visitors (16-13, 4-10).
Clemson 53, No. 9 Duke 51: Hannah Kohn hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 3.1 seconds left for her only points of the game as Clemson snapped the Blue Devils’ 17-game win streak. Demeara Hinds finished with 13 points for the host Tigers (19-9, 10-6 ACC) in a huge résumé-building victory. Toby Fournier had 18 points and seven rebounds for Duke (20-7, 15-1).
No. 10 Ohio State 88, Southern California 83: Jaloni Cambridge scored 33 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, for the Buckeyes (23-5, 11-4 Big Ten) in Columbus as they snapped a two-game skid. Freshman Jazzy Davidson scored a season-high 32 points for USC (17-10, 9-7), including six 3-pointers,